


Tempus Iterum

by BookishSiren



Category: A Hat in Time (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, Possession, Soul Autocannibalism, Time Travel, Times End Au, but it makes sense, it's a touch wack, trust me - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-06
Updated: 2018-12-06
Packaged: 2019-09-13 01:57:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,082
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16883448
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BookishSiren/pseuds/BookishSiren
Summary: Flipping the timepiece in his clawed hand, Snatcher makes a choice.





	Tempus Iterum

It almost felt like a mistake, doing this.

A mistake to sneak onto the kids ship, to even consider what he was doing, but still.

He was here’ and he wasn’t going to back down now.

Golden eyes narrowed as he approached the large vault, the golden clock face seeming almost suspicious of him. Impressive, for something that was inanimate.

Rather than fiddle with the large turnstile on the front, he reaches through the thick metal; thanking his intangibility; and picks the lock manually. Soon, a click sounds through the empty room, and the door swings open with nary a squeak.

Inside sits a multitude of dimly glowing hourglasses, all pulsing with energy. It feels almost staticky against his ectoplasm, and every ounce of his soul recoils as if begging him to change his mind, but he continues forward and wraps his claws around one, lifting it to his face as he murmurs. “To think that something so small can contain so much.”

Flipping it in his hand he contemplates how to continue onwards. Judging by how easily the kid had lost them in this form, it was easy to see that while stable, their contained form was too easy to lose, whether by accident or by force. With what he was planning, the last thing he wanted was for someone to be able to snatch them away and ruin all of his hard work. So that meant….

With a smooth motion, he tosses up the hourglass one last time, and swallows it whole. Inside of him, he feels the hourglass break down as a wave of energy fills and burns through him. The rush is addictive, and he doesn’t even register it as he reaches for another, then another timepiece, until his hands meet with empty air, and his very being vibrates with the amount of temporal power coursing through him. Beneath the rush it feels as if he’s being torn apart, but he doesn’t seem to notice. Instead he starts laughing hysterically as a sinuous arm reaches out, flexing the magic now inside him.Twisting his hand sharply he disappears, leaving no trace of his presence behind. Lacking its power supply the lights in the ship flicker off, leaving only the sound of the backup generator filling the air. Outside the viewport, the planet below seems to glitch out as seas and mountains and sand is replaced with an all-encompassing forest.

 

* * *

 

It takes Snatcher a moment to realize just what he had done, just where; no _when_ ; he was. It’s almost like a dream, the tall oaks, the colorful flowers, the vibrant green grass; all of it from a Subcon he barely remembered anymore. But this wasn’t a memory, _it was real. It was all real, and he was going to keep it that way._ There was so much to do; a Queen to kill; he couldn’t help but chuckle lowly in anticipation.

But... _just where to begin?_

As if to answer his unspoken question, a low whistle sounds out cutting through the afternoon air like a knife. Twisting around in irritation at the interruption, the snarl building inside of him falls flat as he sees just who the whistler is

The man was tall, thin as a stick but still quite tall. True Snatcher was quite large himself, but there were very, _very_ few beings he had met over the span of his existence that were anywhere near this tall. And only one of them was a human.

A long needle sharp thin grin split his face. This was just the man he needed.

Slipping down into shadows, he slips sneaking over to the man. As he gets closer he sends out a pulse of energy causing tendrils to snake up from the ground and wrap around his ankles. Strangely, they seem to glitch, changing from their normal shadowy forms into technicolored blocks, into vines, among other appearances. Despite this oddity, they so their job and like Jack’s Giant the tangled man falls with a yelp.

“ **WHY HELLO THERE!** You seem to be quite tangled up _don’t cha?_ ”

It’s likely a testament to the mans upbringing, but he doesn’t cower from the sudden appearance of the spectre, but instead narrows his tawny eyes and asks “And whom is it that caused that? These vines certainly weren’t twined around my legs before after all.”

“You talk so fancily your highness, I’m almost scared.~” he fake cowered, before slamming his hands into the ground and shoving his face bare inches from the princes and laughing singsonigly “Too bad you’re not getting my name quite that easily.”

The glare burning into his eyes was scathing, just as the next words that came out of the princes lips

“Oh really? I’m not as weak as you make me out to be. So, tell me who you are, or you will face my wrath.”

“Threats?” he chuckled “I’d tell you to put your money where your mouth is but…” As he trails off, he raises one clawed hand up, and moves it so it rests over his past selves heart.

“There’s something else I want from you.”

Before the prince can fully process what the spirit wants, Snatcher had already plunged his claws into his chest. Gripping around something, he pulls back; ripping out the soul inside.

For a moment, he considers the soul, murmuring to himself “ _I wonder if this is considered autocannibalism…_ ” but shrugs before consuming it anyway.

Normally with the souls he had consumed, he’d be hit with a flash of the recent memories before the energy was assimilated into his own. This oddly enough didn’t happen, rather the energy seemed to wrap around the burning temporal magic. The sensation causes Snatcher to crumple as parts of him broken by the energy start to flake off painfully.

Desperate for a way to prevent himself, he looks to the still warm corpse beneath him. Yellow eyes narrow as his pained scowl shifts into a smirk as an idea creeps into his mind.

“It’s not as if it’s being used now… and it is mine anyway…”

Just as he just did to take out the soul, he plunges his hands into the body. Yet this time he doesn’t stop, diving in and in and in, till all trace of his shadowy form disappears into it.

Tendrils retreat back into the ground, and all is dead quiet as if the world itself is holding its breath in horrified anticipation.

...

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Then golden eyes open up.


End file.
